Three police-involved shootings in one day

There were three police-involved shootings in Philadelphia on Wednesday, leaving one man dead and at least two others injured.

There were three more police-involved shootings in Philadelphia on Wednesday.Credit: Metro file photo

There were three police-involved shootings in Philadelphia on Wednesday, leaving one man dead and at least two others injured.

No police officers were injured in the gunfire.

The third and final police-involved shooting occurred on the 4500 block of Wayne Avenue in Germantown. It left one man dead, 6ABC Action News reports.

At least one officer fired his weapon after police came upon three men engaged in a gun battle. The gunman police shot died of his injuries at Albert Einsten Medical Center a short time later.

Police believe the deceased gunman shot at least one of the two men in the gunfight.

Action News also reported that a 2-year-old boy and a 25-year-old woman may have sustained graze wounds in the Germantown police-involved gunfire.

Earlier Wednesday, police shot and injured a 19-year-old man who allegedly opened fire on two officers who were sitting in a police van at 53rd Street and Greenway Avenue. The officers shot the man through the van's windshield.

The 19-year-old man was last listed in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

The first police-involved shooting on Wednesday — the seventh in the span of a week in the city — occurred on the 2400 block of North Fourth Street in North Philadelphia, where a cop shot a 26-year-old man who was allegedly armed with a gun. The man was shot in his upper back and buttocks, and was listed in stable condition.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey recently called for Community Oriented Police Services to support an independent review of the city's police-involved shootings, similar to studies he saw conducted in Las Vegas and New York.

"My primary concern is the sanctity of life equally for members of this department and the public we serve. At no point am I looking to compromise the safety of our officers; however, researching and implementing the best practices to be used by the department is essential," Ramsey wrote in a note posted on the police department's Facebook page. "Utilizing the resources available to our police department to enhance the department is an intelligent and responsible decision, one that is owed to the public and the members of the department."